Publications

August 2018
Case

Digital Transformation at Brazilian Retailer Magazine Luiza

By: Thales S. Teixeira, Leandro A. Guissoni and Tania Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira

By late 2017, Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza's CEO was convinced that the company could significantly grow sales and accomplish its aspirations of digital transformation. What was unclear in his mind was whether he should act as a tech company and grow as fast as... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Ecommerce; Retailing; Brazil; Bricks And Mortar; Pricing; Customer Lifetime Value; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retail Industry; Brazil

05 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 5

Publications August 2013 John Wiley & Sons International Strategy and Competition By: Collis, David Abstract—This book is designed for every student who will be involved in managing and advising companies that compete internationally... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part Two]

In our January 2 update, we featured the first part of a two-part interview with HBS professor Michael E. Porter, an internationally influential expert on strategy and competition. (Porter was recently appointed to a University... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

June 2011
Article

Watch What I Do, Not What I Say: The Unintended Consequences of the Homeland Investment Act

By: Dhammika Dharmapala, C. Fritz Foley and Kristin J. Forbes

This paper analyzes the impact of the Homeland Investment Act of 2004, which provided a one-time tax holiday for the repatriation of foreign earnings and thereby reduced the cost to U.S. multinationals of accessing a source of internal capital. Lawmakers and lobbyists... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Performance Effectiveness; Code Law; Taxation; Cost; Capital; Financial Strategy; Research and Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

December 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Cheetah Conservation Fund Bush Project, The

Laurie Marker, head of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is trying to form a for-profit institution, the Bush Project, to control the bush encroachment problem in Namibia. Bush encroachment not only destroys the general ecosystem, but it also has a harmful impact on the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; For-Profit Firms; Emerging Markets; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Strategy; Africa

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

press An abstract is unavailable at this time. Book: http://ceo.usc.edu/book/doing_research_that_is_useful.html Business Network Transformation in Action Authors: Marco Iansiti and Ross Sullivan Publication: In Business Network Transformation: View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

come first. The authors have identified six common barriers to change: (1) unclear direction on strategy and values, which often leads to conflicting priorities; (2) senior executives who don't work as a team and haven't committed to a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2011
Case

Brink's Company: Activists Push for a Spin-off

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Aldo Sesia and Amy Kaser

The case studies the decision of the security services corporation Brink's Company to spin-off its home security division from the rest of the company. The decision followed intense pressure on the company by three activist hedge funds that felt that Brink's was... View Details

Keywords: Activist Investors; Spin-off; Leveraged Recapitalization; Debt; Valuation; Hedge Funds; Conglomerates; Investment Activism

June 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Dubai: Debt, Development, and Crisis (A)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Andrew Christopher Goodman and Claire K. Qureshi

On November 25, 2009, the city state of Dubai stunned markets by announcing that Dubai World, its flagship state holding company, would seek a six-month "standstill" on at least $4 billion U.S. dollars of its $26 billion in debt obligations. This case describes Dubai's... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Dubai

December 2011
Case

PepsiCo India: Performance with Purpose

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

In 2010, PepsiCo India's management is working to translate PepsiCo's new mission, "Performance with Purpose," into practice in the India market. The mission calls for continued financial performance and market leadership, as well as greater emphasis on healthy... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; India

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness; agriculture; fast food; food; food processing; forest products; grocery; high technology; information; restaurant; retailing; soft drink; textiles; tobacco; transportation; wholesale; wine

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

March 2000
Supplement

Charles Schwab Corporation, The: A Presentation by David Pottruck Co-CEO

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

David Pottruck, Co-CEO of Charles Schwab Corp., discusses the company's information technology and competitive strategy with an Executive Education (Program for Management Development) class at Harvard Business School, October 22, 1999. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry

January 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

ZEFER: November 1998

By: Paul A. Gompers

ZEFER, a young Internet professional service firm, is considering its expansion options. Organic growth versus growth by acquisition is a central theme. The firm's financing strategy will be determined by its business strategy. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Strategy; Service Operations; Business Strategy; Expansion; Internet; Service Industry

31 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 31

Financial Studies (forthcoming) Abstract This paper examines the impact of leveraged buyout firms' bank relationships on the terms of their syndicated loans. Using a sample of 1,590 loans financing private equity sponsored leveraged... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 1996 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Timberland and Community Involvement

By: James E. Austin and Jaan Elias

The Timberland Co., a manufacturer and retailer of footwear, outdoor apparel, and accessories, committed itself to instituting and communicating a core set of values to its employees, stockholders, and consumers. The system of beliefs emphasized community service.... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Business and Community Relations; Social Enterprise; Corporate Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry

March 2022
Teaching Note

Sawiris Foundation: Elevating Education in Egypt

By: Brian Trelstad and Alpana Thapar

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-023. Founded in 2001 by the Sawiris family, one of the wealthiest families in Egypt, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) invested in human capital and provision of basic social services for the most marginalized... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Development; Human Capital; Equality and Inequality; Education; Business Strategy; Social Enterprise; Social Issues; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; Egypt

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

customers by providing them adequate functionality in return for lower prices. The technology of this sort of disruptive innovation offers "good enough" performance along traditional metrics and is supported by a business model that generates attractive View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

July 2025
Case

Greenwood Online: A Fin-Tech Service for Culture and Community (A)

By: James Riley and Bernal Cortés

In 2020, Ryan Glover and Paul Judge launched Greenwood, a fintech startup designed to counter systemic racial discrimination in the American banking ecosystem by offering accessible financial services tailored to Black and Brown communities, but available to all.... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Identity; Cultural Branding; Impression Management; Organization Behavior; Strategic Alignment; Start-up; Mission and Purpose; Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Structure; Banking Industry; United States